Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 071, Ed. 1 Monday, October 12, 2015 Page: 4 of 16
sixteen pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
OPINION
4A
Monday, October 12, 2015
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Collapse of
Oslo accords
puts Israelis
in danger
7! wsarasc WCWSS? pmls
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
iMMm
. V
-jr
:■
sj;
Cl
J ‘
■ j[
Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
mu
V
M.EDM COMPANY
EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Scott K. Parks
Managing Editor
Mark Finley
City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
ft
n a bright, sunny day in September of
1993, I stood on the White House
lawn watching Yitzhak Rabin and
Yasir Arafat sign the Oslo peace accords in
front of President Bill Clinton. At that mo-
ment, it was possible to suspend disbelief
and imagine a two-state solution, with Israel
and Palestine living side by side.
Twenty years on, Rabin and Arafat are
dead, and so is the Oslo peace process — al-
though politicians from Israel and the West
are loath to admit this.
Recently at the
United Nations, how-
ever, Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas said
his government could
no longer be bound by
the Oslo pact, empha-
sizing Israeli settle-
ment-building on the
West Bank among his
many grievances. Ab-
bas warned that the
Palestinian Authority would halt all coopera-
tion with Israel, which would require Jerusa-
lem to resume full occupation of the West
Bank. His remarks are a warning of serious
trouble ahead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-
yahu, who was focused on denouncing the
Iran nuclear deal, made only a pro forma ref-
erence to peace talks, along with a slap at Ab-
bas. There was little sign that the Israeli lead-
er recognized the high cost to his nation of
allowing the Oslo process to come to a for-
mal close.
Netanyahu’s worries about Iran are un-
derstandable given Iranian leaders’ frequent
denunciation of “the Zionist state” and insis-
tence that Israel will cease to exist in coming
decades. But his obsession with the ayatol-
lahs — who aren’t likely to ever attack the nu-
clear-armed Jewish state directly — seems to
have blinded him to dangers closer to home.
Foremost among them is long-term Is-
raeli rule over millions of disenfranchised
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabin signed the Oslo accords because he
recognized the risk of such rule. He warned
in 1976 that it could lead to a form of apart-
heid.
O
3
i
m
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
are determined by the editorial board.
Questions and suggestions should be directed to the:
Denton Record-Chronicle
314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201
Phone: 940-387-3811
Fax: 940-566-6888
E-mail: drc@dentonrc.com
Should prison inmates
raise your food
_a
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
ellow foodies, here’s a question for
your conscience: Do you wonder
whose hands helped bring your meal
to the grocery?
As you dollop the farm-fresh goat cheese
on top of your micro greens and remove the
antibiotic-free tilapia from under the broiler,
would you lose your appetite if you found out
that workers who
helped produce it earn
in a year what you
make in a week?
Whole Foods wor-
ried that you might.
So the company an-
nounced that it was
severing business rela-
tionships with suppli-
ers that use prison la-
bor to bring fish and
cheese to some of the
more than 430 Whole Foods stores in
America. Yes, prisoners herd and milk some
of those goats and peel the scales from that
fish. And their pay is reportedly between 74
cents and $4 a day.
At first blush that sounds appalling, but is
It’s tricky to pitch fair-wage arguments
on behalf of inmates. After all, they are being
housed, fed and cared for by the public, at
considerable expense. The opportunity costs
to inmates are negligible, but society has a
huge stake in helping them become employ-
able once they leave prison.
The concerns of prison reform advocates
and businesses like Whole Foods don’t have
to be at odds with each other. But companies
have to be honest and open about their mo-
tives and not cave at the first hint of negative
publicity. Are they solely motivated by lower-
cost labor, or is there a social goal as well that
fits the company’s values? Given Whole
Foods’ hasty retreat, one has to wonder.
This is not an isolated case. The for-profit
corrections sector has blossomed over the
past few decades, which means inmate labor
accounts for more and more products and
services. So the term “prison-industrial com-
plex” is not just a conspiratorial myth.
Given that a massive bipartisan prison
reform package was introduced in Congress
the same week as the Whole Foods imbro-
glio, I wish the controversy would have been
spun differently. The Sentencing Reform
and Corrections Act should have offered the
perfect opening to discuss how we can help
inmates leave prison and lead more produc-
tive lives.
America is in dire need of prison reform.
We have 5 percent of the world’s population
but 25 percent of the world’s inmates. It’s dif-
ficult for the average person to grab the enor-
mity of our penal system. The Texas Crimi-
nal Justice Coalition reports that more than
70,000 people leave Texas prisons every
year. Another million more offenders cycle
through the state’s local jails annually.
Most dismaying is that many will be
back, locked up again due to a new offense or
a parole violation. Imagine if more had a
skill, a trade or a work history upon which to
rely. There are ways that inmates can acquire
that in jail.
Yes, companies will make a buck off of
giving those inmates that chance — and per-
haps we should discuss some regulatory
guidelines about that — but it can certainly
be a fair exchange.
Quixotic Farming, the fish company
working with inmates in Colorado, de-
scribed its philosophy aptly on its website:
“We believe in teaching a man to fish and
giving him a second chance.”
MARY SANCHEZ twites for The Kan-
sas City Star. Her column is distributed by
Tribune Content Agency.
F
Trudy
Rubin
Other voices
Proposed trade pact
could help Texas
«P*|
ade in Asia used to be the punchline to a bad
joke. Not anymore. Asian trade is a key part of
the Texas economy and the proposed Trans-
pacific Partnership will keep it that way.
The recent free-trade agreement links the U.S. econo-
my to 11 nations: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and
Vietnam. Together, those nations represent 40 percent of
the global economy, no small matter. Now President Ba-
rack Obama must stand ready to sell this historic deal to
Congress.
For Texas, the partnership builds on the state’s in-
creasing importance in global trade. Texas is a big state
with a big economy, and much of its agriculture, chem-
ical, energy, electronics and machinery industries are
sustained by imports and exports.
If you’re a consumer, free trade means you’ll get prod-
ucts at lower cost, free of the tariffs that drive up prices.
And if you’re a manufacturer, access to these Asian mar-
kets means access to millions of consumers.
Last year, for example, Texas exported $289 billion
worth of goods, more than any other state. In 2014, Texas’
exports to countries covered by the agreement alone hit
$156.6 billion, surpassing the $133.9 billion the state does
in trade with its North America partners. With the Trans-
pacific Partnership in place, the growth could take off.
The agreement, which began to take shape when for-
mer Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk was U.S. trade representa-
tive, also would bring these nations closer to U.S. labor
and environmental standards. That not only helps work-
ers and nature but also helps make sure that those na-
tions don’t have an unfair economic advantage.
And the agreement would give the United States vital
economic leverage against China’s ever-expanding global
economic influence.
As in any trade deal, there will be winners and losers;
we’ll have more of those details when the full text of the
partnership becomes available. For now, we’re glad to see
it finally is in shape to go to Congress for months of scru-
tiny before an up-down vote.
No trade deal is without its critics, especially during
presidential campaign season. Democratic contender Sen.
Bemie Sanders of Vermont reflexively called it a big win
for Wall Street and big corporations; Republican front-
runner Donald Trump took to Twitter to call it “a terrible
deal.”
Mary
Sanchez
it?
According to NPR, Haystack Mountain
Goat Dairy in Longmont, Colo., and Quixot-
ic Farming, a sustainable seafood company
with facilities in Missouri and Colorado,
partnered with Colorado Correctional In-
dustries (CCI), a division of the state’s De-
partment of Corrections, to put prisoners to
work. According to the companies and CCI,
it’s a way to teach inmates skills, give them
valuable work experience and reduce recidi-
vism — all good things, to be sure.
But a handful of well-meaning prison re-
form advocates in Texas, End Mass Incarcer-
ation Houston, caught wind of the relation-
ships and staged a protest outside a Houston
Whole Foods store.
Soon after, Whole Foods said it would
stop carrying the inmate-labor products by
April 2016, a decision reported widely by
The Associated Press’ food industry report-
er. That’s a loss for inmates.
It’s valid to be concerned about low wag-
es, and about whose pockets are lined by the
cheap labor, but the protest ran roughshod
over another social and moral consider-
ation: the duty of our prison systems to reha-
bilitate convicts. The Colorado program, like
others elsewhere, is voluntary and was un-
doubtedly aiding inmates toward future em-
ployment by offering them on-the-j ob-train-
With peace talks on hold, irrespective of
who is to blame, the vast expansion of Jewish
settlements convinces Palestinians — and
the world — that Israel wants to keep the
West Bank.
An even broader network of dozens of “il-
legal” settlements, built by radical youths
and allegedly slated for dismantlement, is in-
stead being gradually legalized by the Israeli
government. They are filling in the territorial
gaps among older settlements, further sep-
arating Palestinian towns and villages from
each other and from their agricultural land.
Even if peace talks resume, the chaos in
the Middle East would make any final deal
impossible for years to come. But the settle-
ments rule out any prospect of two states in
the future.
As a result, tensions are rising sharply on
the West Bank. Recently, an Israeli settler
couple were shot to death while driving in
the West Bank with their four children.
Meantime, radical settler youths have been
harassing or attacking Palestinian civilians,
recently burning a Palestinian family to
death in their home.
As part of the Oslo accords, Palestinian
police and intelligence forces work with Isra-
el to prevent violence on the West Bank. For
the most part, they have been successful,
keeping in check the West Bank’s radicals,
including those who sympathize with Gaza’s
Hamas extremists.
Yet it becomes harder and harder for Ab-
bas to continue that cooperation as settle-
ments expand — and occupation promises
to become permanent. Palestinians accuse
his security forces of acting as collaborators.
If Abbas’ security cooperation lapses, Is-
rael will have to formally reinstate military
control of the West Bank. That would be
bound to provoke a major resumption of ter-
rorist attacks in Greater Israel, provoking Is-
raeli countermeasures, which in turn would
guarantee more terrorism, etc.
Until now, Abbas’ forces have prevented
jihadi groups from taking root in the West
Bank. The scenario above would ensure that
they emerge.
Moreover, Abbas’ Palestinian Authority
administers the West Bank, with heavy sub-
sidies from international financial institu-
tions and the European Union. Should his
government, a product of the Oslo agree-
ment, decide to stand down, Israel would
have to formally resume running all the West
Bank’s services. The restoration of overt oc-
cupation would be complete.
So rather than ignore Abbas’ words, the
Israeli government should start thinking se-
riously about how to prevent such an out-
come. The best way to start would be to
freeze the expansion of settlements that rule
out any future agreement with the Palestin-
ians.
mg.
Letters to the editor
Some Republicans might oppose it to prevent giving
the president a political victory, while some Democrats
will recycle old canards about job losses and inadequate
environmental protections.
Politics aside, this deal, like most free-trade pacts, is
likely to be a net plus for the Texas and US. economies.
In the past, Texas Sens. John Comyn and Ted Cruz have
supported free trade, as has influential Rep. Jeb Hensar-
ling, R-Dallas.
We would hope they and the rest of Congress will
stand behind this measure as a major victory for the eco-
nomic futures of this state and this country.
— The Dallas Morning News
Speak up
SUBMISSIONS
Some believe we must keep guns to de-
fend ourselves against our government. I
don’t have missiles or a helicopter but maybe
my neighbor does.
Remember, our military happens to be
our sons and daughters and the Second
Amendment was written when wars were
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
name, address and telephone number. Au-
thorship must be verified before publication.
The Record-Chronicle reserves the right to edit
letters for length.
Letters should be typed or legibly handwritten
and be 250 or fewer words. We prefer email
submissions.
Send to: drc@dentonrc.com.
Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
Letters to the editor
P.0. Box 369
Denton, TX 76202
fought with muskets.
Thomas Jefferson said: “I am not an ad-
vocate for frequent changes in laws and Con-
stitutions. But laws and institutions must go
hand in hand with the progress of the hu-
man mind. As that becomes more devel-
oped, more enlightened, as new discoveries
are made, new truths discovered and man-
ners and opinions change, with the change
of circumstances, institutions must advance
also to keep pace with the times.”
If we don’t want safety training, back-
ground checks or to be prevented from buy-
ing grenades anonymously online, what do
we want? If we accept our children being
killed in schools, churches or caught in
crossfires, let’s own it and just say, “There’s
This day in history: October 12
nothing we can do. My rights are more im-
portant than some kid’s life.”
If it’s not OK, then go vote, speak up and
tell Congress to stand up to the gun lobbies
instead of saying “Oh my, how sad!” when
the next shooting happens ... because the
next shooting will happen.
Today is Monday, Oct. 12,
the 285th day of 2015. There
are 80 days left in the year. This
is the Columbus Day holiday in
the U.S., as well as Thanksgiving
Day in Canada.
On Oct. 12, 1915, English
nurse Edith Cavell was executed
by a German firing squad for
helping Allied soldiers escape
from occupied Belgium during
World War I. (The night before
the sentence was carried out,
Cavell met with chaplain H.
Stirling Gahan, who later quot-
ed her as saying: “I realize that
patriotism is not enough. I must
have no hatred or bitterness to-
wards any one.”)
In 1492 (according to the
Old Style calendar), Christopher
Columbus arrived with his expe-
dition in the present-day Baha-
mas.
In 1870, Gen. Robert E. Lee
died in Lexington, Virginia, at
age 63.
In 1915, former President
Theodore Roosevelt, speaking
to the Knights of Columbus in
New York, criticized native-born
Americans (as opposed to natu-
ralized citizens) who identified
themselves by dual nationalities,
saying that “a hyphenated
American is not an American at
Micki Rushing,
Sanger
Denton Record-Chronicle mission statement
all.’
In 1942, during World War
II, American naval forces defeat-
ed the Japanese in the Battle of
Cape Esperance. Attorney Gen-
eral Francis Biddle announced
during a Columbus Day celebra-
tion at Carnegie Hall in New
York that Italian nationals in the
United States would no longer
be considered enemy aliens.
— The Associated Press
We believe a free society, with all its privileges and opportunities, is partially successful because of
a free press that is supported by the community at large.
Our mission every day is to give you unbiased, wide-ranging news of Denton and the larger Denton
County community. We appreciate your subscription or your purchase of this newspaper. By doing
so, you are supporting an independent look at your community, its leaders, its business people, and
its residents.
Without that, we believe that our communities would suffer from a lack of analysis, a lack of in-
formation, and a lack of oversight of taxpayer money. We want to give you something to think
about every day. We hope those ideas lead you to become involved in your community, both with
your commentary and your actions.
Otherwise, Israel will soon face a growing
security threat from within.
TRUDY RUBIN is a columnist and
editorial board member for the Philadel-
phia Inquirer.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 071, Ed. 1 Monday, October 12, 2015, newspaper, October 12, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124971/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .